


Meanwhile, in the other Derry....

by fleurlb



Category: Derry Girls (TV), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Inspired By Tumblr, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:13:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21788827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurlb/pseuds/fleurlb
Summary: There's so much that no one ever talks about here, like the creepy clown who is suddenly everywhere, and James will never understand it.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 225
Collections: Crossovers and Fusion Fics, Yuletide 2019





	Meanwhile, in the other Derry....

**Author's Note:**

  * For [misantlery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misantlery/gifts).



> Spotted this prompt and could not resist it. The story is inspired by this excellent Tumblr post: https://v1als.tumblr.com/post/187672633662/meanwhile-in-the-other-derry

James followed the girls out of shop where they paused to unwrap their candy. He looked up and saw a clown standing across the road. The clown's outfit was dirty white and full of ruffles. His hair was a puffy swirl of orange, and his face was ghostly white with garish red highlights. He looked creepy as anything, and James had to stifle the urge to scream and run in terror.

The girls seemed not to notice the strange creature, instead complaining bitterly about the day's history exam. Clare appeared for a moment to have noticed, the way she ducked her head and stepped behind Erin, but the other girls acted like it was just any normal day. So James decided that the best course of action was to try his best to blend in, act like the others, and pretend that everything was normal. The way they did with everything else that didn't make sense – the soldiers on the corner, the bomb threats that emptied the school, the armed vehicles that patrolled the streets. 

But then, the clown began turning up everywhere. Across from the school. In the shopping centre. Climbing out of a storm drain. Perched on one of the city walls. Lounging under the Free Derry mural. Standing on the edge of a car park. Sometimes, the clown carried a red balloon. He always looked menacing. And no one ever said anything about it. 

After school one day, James finally found he'd reached his limit. He took a deep breath and aimed for as casual a tone as possible. 

“So, is no one ever going to mention the weird clown who seems to be everywhere?”

“Oh, that's Pennywise,” said Orla, as though that explained everything. 

“Pennywise?” repeated James, because that explained exactly nothing. 

“Aye, Pennywise, so it is,” said Michelle. “Just ignore him.”

“Just ignore him? I don't know if you've noticed, but he's absolutely terrifying.”

“I have definitely noticed,” said Clare, who, as usual, was standing so that someone else was between her and the clown. 

“Look, he thrives on fear,” explained Michelle, her tone the same as a parent explaining something for the umpteenth time. “Every 27 years, he comes back and gets stronger from fear and then he eats some kids and fucks off for another 27 years. But his power comes from your fear. Here, watch this.”

Michelle grabbed Clare and pushed her outside the circle of friends into the general direction of where Pennywise was lurking across the street. James watched at the clown seemed to get bigger and closer. 

Then Michelle pulled Clare back and shouted at the clown. “YA WEE PERVY FUCK! FUCK ON OFF OUT OF HERE. WE'RE NOT INTERESTED IN FLOATING!”

The clown diminished somewhat, but not as much as would have made James feel entirely comfortable. 

“See,” said Erin. “Just ignore him, and it'll all be grand.”

The girls all nodded and set off for the bus, James trailing behind them. He wasn't entirely sure he was happy that he'd asked.

\---//---

About a week later, they had a special assembly in the middle of the school day.

“What do ye think it's about?” asked Erin, looking around nervously.

Michelle cracked her gum and checked her nails. “No idea. We've done nothing though, I know that for a fact, so no one say anything different.”

She shot James an accusatory look, and he threw up his hands in protest. 

Clare shushed them all as Sister Michael stepped up onto the stage.

“Now girls, we've been getting some unsettling reports of a certain clownish figure, lurking around town these days.”

A murmur went around the hall as all the girls chimed in about the different times they had seen Pennywise. 

“This assembly is about a month too late,” stage-whispered Michelle. 

Orla put her hand up and waved it around until Sister Michael was forced to call on her. 

“Is it true, Sister, that step aerobics can distract and disarm a child-hungry clown?”

Wee Tina stood up. “I don't understand how he's back anyway. I heard the Provos got him last time. How do we even know it's him?”

More questions and whispers swirled around the hall, and James thought that Sister Michael looked like she wished a clown would carry her away from the school. After a few minutes of trying a baleful glare, she banged her hand down on the podium.

“Enough. I want to stress to you girls that I've seen this guy, and he is absolutely nothing to be frightened of. His costume is shabby. His makeup is runny. Only an absolute eejit would go anywhere with that character. So girls, do not be eejits. Do ye all understand?”

“Yes, sister,” they chorused, although James thought a few of the first years looked decidedly unconvinced, and he wasn't entirely sure what he thought. 

\---//---

James wasn't sure when it happened, exactly, but for a couple of weeks, he'd had the sensation of a voice, not exactly in his head, but near his ear. The voice was pleasant, but edged, and really seemed to get James. It told him that Michelle was just a bully. That he'd be able to handle a boy's school. That his mother was just going through a rough time and would send for him soon. To ignore what everyone said about him, of course he wasn't gay. 

He knew most of the things that the voice said to him, but it was still nice to hear it from someone else. Certainly no one in his life usually gave him such reassurance. 

James and his friends were taking a shortcut through Derry Cemetery, hurrying through the misty twilight, when he heard the voice calling out to him from behind a Celtic cross grave marker. 

He slowed and listened, clearly hearing his name. James stopped and watched his friends disappear into the mist. He knew he should call out to stop them, or just hurry on to catch up with them, but he found himself rooted to the spot. He turned slowly, his hands tightening their grip on his backpack straps, and found himself face-to-face with Pennywise.

“James, so nice to meet you in person. Finally, after conversing for so long.”

James felt his heart race, and the clown seemed to grow, looming over him with a sinister smile. 

“Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps,” said Pennywise, echoing James's thoughts, but in a nearly mocking way.

The clown reached out a hand, and James felt compelled to take it. His body didn't feel like his own anymore. His head was buzzing in a rather unpleasant way, and he just wanted it all to stop. The bees in his head were telling him it would stop, if he would just go away with Pennywise. 

He felt his hand loosening its grip on his backpack strap. And then he watched as his hand reached out toward the clown. 

“What the fuck do you think you're doing, you wee dozy bastard?!” shouted an all-too-familiar voice. Michelle crashed out of the darkness, swinging a small angel statue. She bashed Pennywise in the side of the head, then kicked him hard in the crotch. She grabbed James's outstretched hand.

“Run, you eejit, run!”

He ran, if only to keep up with the hand that Michelle now had in a death grip. They dodged gravestones and jumped over small statues. Soon, James could see the light at gate of the cemetery, where the rest of their friends were waiting and shouting, Orla doing step aerobics using the kerb as a step. 

When they reached the girls, everyone ran together out of the cemetery, stopping a few minutes later under the welcome glare of a streetlight. 

Michelle doubled over, huffing and out-of-breath. She took a few minutes to recover, then straightened up and started slapping James upside the head.

“You wee dozy eejit! What the fuck were you thinking?”

James grinned, in spite of himself. She'd come back for him. Maybe it didn't make up for all the shitty things she'd said and done since he was dumped on her doorstep, but it sure came close. 

“You saved me,” he said.

“Of course I fucking saved you. Me ma said I had to look out for you, because you'd never understand Derry. I do not need hassle from her.”

“You're right, I never will understand Derry,” said James.

“This is sweet and all,” said Clare. “But I really don't fancy standing out here in the dark when we know that thing is still out there and still hungry.”

The friends agreed and set back off on their way. James felt more a part of things than he had in a long time.


End file.
